LEGO After-Christmas Sales at Wal-Mart, Target and LEGO Store

So the after-Christmas sales for LEGO were pretty underwhelming so far this year. Wal-Mart seemed to have the best deals, but it is wildly inconsistent from store to store. In the end, low stock levels seem to be the main theme in sales across the stores I checked or heard about. Below are images from Wal-Mart when they first opened on Dec 26th, as well as Target. For the LEGO.com sale, it seems that 90% of what they put on sale was sold out before they even posted the sale. Screenshot below too.

At Wal-Mart I picked up Dino 5886 T-Rex Hunter for 50% off, Mines of Moria for about 30% off, and Sith Nightspeeder for 50% off:

Here is what I found at Wal-Mart:
LEGO After Christmas Sale

LEGO After Christmas Sale

LEGO After Christmas Sale

LEGO After Christmas Sale

LEGO After Christmas Sale

LEGO After Christmas Sale

LEGO After Christmas Sale

LEGO After Christmas Sale

LEGO After Christmas Sale

LEGO After Christmas Sale

And this is what I found at Target:
LEGO After Christmas Sale

LEGO After Christmas Sale

LEGO After Christmas Sale

LEGO After Christmas Sale

LEGO After Christmas Sale

LEGO After Christmas Sale

LEGO After Christmas Sale

LEGO After Christmas Sale

LEGO After Christmas Sale

Here is what LEGO.com offered just when the sale started, I believe on Dec 24th:
LEGO After Christmas Sale

LEGO at Target, Dec 24th

My next stop was Target. I had heard someone else on a forum mention this, and it was true here: Target reduced their LEGO stock to half. Only one side of a single aisle had LEGO in it. So, as things sold out in the last month, Target did not keep restocking hoping to have a bigger buildup to the end of Dec. They just let it dwindle and consolidated now, instead of waiting to January, clearancing out a bunch of merchandise.

The biggest surprise for me was that they had the Dino Defence HQ in stock. This set disappeared from shelves recently and is becoming one of those “must have” sets on the aftermarket. I finally grabbed one, paying full retail price:
LEGO at Target

They had one Planet set for $4.98, Sebulba’s Podracer & Tatooine. I grabbed it, even though it had a small rip in the front:
LEGO at Target

The TIE Interceptor & Death Star Planet Set was $6.98 with a lot of them in stock:
LEGO at Target

They actually had one copy of Monster Fighters’ The Zombies in stock, but…
LEGO at Target

It was a bit crushed, and completely opened. This set has been very hot on the aftermarket, selling for double retail price:
LEGO at Target

An endcap of Star Wars:
LEGO at Target

Pirates of the Caribbean The Black Pearl is STILL in stock, at full retail price:
LEGO at Target

LEGO at Target

LEGO at Target

LEGO at Target

LEGO at Target

LEGO at Target

LEGO at Target

LEGO at Toys R Us, Dec 24th

On a lark, I decided to venture out to my local Toys R Us (and Target) on December 24th to see what stock was left in the LEGO aisle.

The lot had a lot of cars in it, but you could easily find a spot.
LEGO at Toys R Us

Overall, the place was not very crowded indoors, and there weren’t any big lines. The LEGO section:
LEGO at Toys R Us

A very mild amount of activity and lots of stock:
LEGO at Toys R Us

Just like last year, still trying to push those LEGO Star Wars Advent Calendars:
LEGO at Toys R Us

Galaxy Squad and even Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles were on full display:
LEGO at Toys R Us

The Hobbit sets are in stock. You also see Toys R Us’ promotion: $25 off a regular-priced LEGO purchase of $100 or more. On their website, they allowed this to stack with sale items:
LEGO at Toys R Us

More Galaxy Squad:
LEGO at Toys R Us

And more Galaxy Squad. With Star Wars, it feels like 60% of the LEGO aisle is space themed!
LEGO at Toys R Us

A good sale on Creator Hillside House 5771, if you are able to stack it with the $25 off $100 deal, as I did online:
LEGO at Toys R Us

Same with the Ninjago Samurai Mech, which was on sale and they had plenty of in stock:
LEGO at Toys R Us

My first sighting of the Hobbit Gandalf polybags, mispriced here for $15.99! I scanned one in, they rang up at $4.99.
LEGO at Toys R Us

Some Dino in stock. This stuff is slowly turning out to be a hot property on the aftermarket.
LEGO at Toys R Us

Lots of LEGO City, plus a lone Alien Conquest set still in stock:
LEGO at Toys R Us

A mix:
LEGO at Toys R Us

LEGO at Toys R Us

LEGO at Toys R Us

I don’t remember seeing this before, a nice little set with 2 minifigs and a mini-mech. Kai’s Fire Mech:
LEGO at Toys R Us

For Star Wars, Palpatine’s Arrest was on sale and they had a ton of them in stock:
LEGO at Toys R Us

Lots of sets, but many duplicates:
LEGO at Toys R Us

Monster Fighters is starting to disappear:
LEGO at Toys R Us

Creator:
LEGO at Toys R Us

Friends:
LEGO at Toys R Us

LEGO at Toys R Us

LEGO at Toys R Us

2 Year Blog Anniversary!

Today is the 2 year anniversary of this blog! In the past 2 years, I have shared a total of 2,100 original photos and 200 blog posts. In the past twelve months alone, I shared 1,504 images and 120 blog posts, much more than the previous year.

I have seen more than a 250% increase in traffic from the first year to the second too, thanks to those who return for new photos, and our good friend Google.

This blog is really a personal journal of my experience with LEGO, with a particular focus on a visual archive of the LEGO retail experience. As I stated when I first started the blog, I really enjoy the online LEGO community, especially the great forum at Brickset.com.

For me, this blog has a long-term view. I love the idea that you will be able to look back on these images in 5 or 10 years, and see stores full of LEGO sets that are now retired. My original inspiration came from these vintage toy store photos, most from the 1970s and 1980s.

There is a thriving community of LEGO blogs out there, and I want to ensure this one offers something a little unique. I know that if I wanted bigger traffic, that I would simply repost breaking LEGO news from Eurobricks, ToysNBricks or Brickset. and other sources. But that is not my goal here. I am not in a rush to steal other people’s images and content to get traffic. I simply want to share what I see from my small corner of the LEGO world.

Thank you to the many folks who make this hobby so much fun!

LEGO Death Star Progress

So I’m working on the lower levels of the LEGO Death Star, and really enjoying the build so far. The more I build it, the more I appreciate why LEGO won’t pull it from the shelves. Not only is it an iconic part of the Star Wars universe, but just filled with classic scenes. The design is so inventive too, fitting so much into a sphere. More updates as I make progress…

LEGO Death Star

LEGO Death Star

LEGO Death Star

So I am finally sitting down and building the LEGO Death Star set. I believe I own 4 of these sets already, all unopened. But I found a nice deal on a set from another collector, one that is already opened, so it gives me an excuse to finally build it.

This set has been out for YEARS, and the box art is still two or three generations ago in terms of LEGO Star Wars packaging design:
LEGO Death Star

The manual is MASSIVE:
LEGO Death Star

It comes with loads of minifigs. If LEGO were to release this set today, it would either be much more expensive or contain many fewer minifigs. Some of these are now older designs, but a nice collection overall:
LEGO Death Star

The trash compactor monster! Well done LEGO.
LEGO Death Star

Chewie and the little droid:
LEGO Death Star

The build starts off simply enough:
LEGO Death Star

And builds…
LEGO Death Star

And builds… It just gets bigger and bigger…
LEGO Death Star

Okay, another update on my progress soon!

2013 LEGO Sets Arrive – Galaxy Squad, The Hobbit, City

My first siting of a 2013 Galaxy Squad set at Toys R Us. Set 70700 Space Swarmer:
LEGO 2013 Sets

It’s funny to see the Galaxy Squad set among two other space themes: Alien Conquest and Star Wars:
LEGO 2013 Sets

A 2013 City Set: 60007 High Speed Chase. Includes Chase McCain!
LEGO 2013 Sets

Hobbit set 79004 Barrel Escape:
LEGO 2013 Sets

The LEGO section was getting to be a mess:
LEGO 2013 Sets

Polybag 30213 with Gandalf:
LEGO 2013 Sets

The sticker on The Hobbit sets: “Special The Hobbit Trilogy Preview Set!”
LEGO 2013 Sets

Hobbit set 79001, Escape from Mirkwood Spiders:
LEGO 2013 Sets

LEGO 2013 Sets

Right side of the LEGO aisle:
LEGO 2013 Sets

The left side, still with a big Monster Fighters display:
LEGO 2013 Sets

Funny how Prince of Persia, Atlantis, and Alien Conquest sets still litter the shelves:
LEGO 2013 Sets

Lots of collectible minifigs:
LEGO 2013 Sets

I haven’t seen these LEGO LED Torches before:
LEGO 2013 Sets

Friends:
LEGO 2013 Sets

Friends:
LEGO 2013 Sets

Some Recent LEGO Deals From Toys R Us

In the past couple of weeks, I picked up some nice deals at Toys R Us. Through various discounts, I ended up with the Desert Skiff set 9496 and Star Wars Cloud City Planet set at maybe 20% off each, plus the Darth Maul Polybag thrown in for free.

I finally grabbed a couple of the Friends set: Olivia’s Tree House 3065 for about $16.75 each after taxes. Not a huge discount, but I have been eyeing this set for awhile:

LEGO Deals From Toys R Us

LEGO Deals From Toys R Us